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Welcome to my snarky corner of the web. Join me as I discuss everything from wine to chocolate. There may be a few other topics mixed in there too. I talk a bunch about my amazing offspring, 19 and 17. I sometimes go on and on about my secret crush on the amazing Mike Rowe. I talk about things that irritate me or things that make me happy. Sometimes I just talk to hear myself talk. Feedback is always appreciated but please make sure it's respectable. No nudity or profanity. I'm the only one allowed to be profane. But any and all snark is welcome and appreciated!

Friday, October 19, 2012

What the HELL is wrong with me??

UPDATED 10/20:

No real changes. The hall upstairs did get cleaned and vacuumed (not by me, I have 13 to thank for that). And the guest room IS clean (not by me, I've got 48 to thank for that). I did vacuum the 467 lbs of dog and cat hair from the steps, but that was it.

I did get a nice run in this morning with the Nazicrackho, and am spending tomorrow at Notaviva winery in Northern Virginia with Nazi and Susan. Looking forward to that!!

It happened again this morning. I swear, I have never had an issue with ADD, ADHD, never been very easily distracted (oh a kitty!) but in the past two weeks, this has happened to me:

My counter this morning.

My floor last weekend

My counter last weekend

I keep forgetting to put the actual COFFEE MUG under the spout to catch the freshly brewed coffee that comes pouring out of the Keurig. Back in the age of dinosaurs and Mr. Coffee makers, I never forgot to put the glass carafe under the basket before turning on the power, so someone needs to 'splain to me why I'm having issue with my Keurig. I got it as either a Mother's Day gift or for my birthday, (memory escapes me, go figure) and up until last week I NEVER forgot to put a mug under the spout. Now I've done it twice. My thought process was as follows:

Coffee, mmmmm good, hot, fresh coffee. I'll just put the water in, then put the K-Cup in. Then I'll turn on the power button and make good, hot, fresh coffee. Oh, I need to make lunches, so I'll lay out 4 slices of bread for sandwiches. Ooooooh no, no clean knives in the silverware drawer, I'll have to empty the dishwasher. Yay, dishwasher emptied, now let me get a knife and start making the san...... Oh SHIT!!!!!! The bread did manage to soak up a good bit of the coffee that came out of my Keurig and onto my counter. That's positive, right??

In other news, I've given up cleaning my house. More specifically, the mess NOT made by me. Let me explain. I live in a dumpster. My children KNOW how to put a dish in the sink or dishwasher, they just choose NOT to. Don't ask me why. 15 has been told, pretty much on a daily basis, to remove her clothes from the floor in the bathroom once she's finished showering. And yet, she forgets to do this. Every. Single. Day. They bring cups of juice, soda, milk, whatever up to their rooms or into the family room and once the cup is empty, that spot becomes the cup's permanent home until I do a sweep of the room prior to running the dishwasher. But no more. I'm done. I sent this email to my family yesterday. I have not yet gotten back any response.

Dear Husband, 15 & 13,

This morning, I was in the family room and looked at the end tables and saw a bowl, a yogurt cup and spoon, 3 popsicle sticks and 3 different drinking cups. I started to clean them up and thought, 'why am I doing this? I did not make this mess'.

Here is my issue. When I am finished witha dish, a coffee mug or
a cup, I put it either in the sink, on the counter or in the dishwasher
if it's empty. I do NOT, however, leave it lying on a table in
another room for someone else to clean up. So why, then, is it MY
responsibility to clean up after everyone else who chooses to leave all these dishes, plates, cups, trash lying all
over the house??? Cheese stick wrappers on my computer desk?? Go-gurt wrappers on the stairs?? Really?? Why is this my job to clean that up???

Grandma and Grandpa are coming on Saturday and staying overnight. The
upstairs hallway, no matter how much I try to keep it clear, once again
has clothes strewn all over the place. And don't even get me started on
the bed that those two will have to sleep on. Clothes that get washed, dried and piled. There is NO follow through. It is JUST as easy
to fold each load as it comes out of the dryer. That's what I do. Fold
and sort and distribute. It takes a few extra minutes but it gets RID
of the 'pile it on the dryer or the guest bed for someone else to deal
with' step. Because it always seems to fall on MY shoulders to deal with that step and I'm pretty sick and tired of it.

Family,
THIS HAS GOT TO STOP. We are all FAR too busy in our lives to let this
stuff pile up, because then it becomes a burden for one person (ME) to get it all clean before someone comes over and, God
forbid, sees just what pigs we are. I am not saying that I am blameless in
any of this, and I have allowed it to continue. But I'm so over and
done with cleaning up after 3 other perfectly healthy human beings.

15, you borrowed $15 from a teammate to buy a shirt today at Regionals, after I had
given you $25 this morning. Your first response "What about the $12
daddy said he had"and when I asked how you planned on paying her back you responded: "Can I please have an allowance like everyone else??"

Now, I put this to you. Why would I even THINK of paying anyone
money to put their stuff all over the place and expect me to clean it
up?? I would beabsolutely MORE than happy to give each child $10
each week as allowance, provided I think that they have earned it. But
I'd rather spend $100 a month on hiring a cleaning lady to do the work instead of giving my children
money for doing absolutely NOTHING. At least a cleaning lady is earning
it.

If you want the house to look presentable for Grandma and
Grandpa, you will have to clean it up yourselves. I volunteered to work
in concessions to earn money so we don't have to shell out hundreds of dollars for 15's band. If I stay home and clean, it's more money we have to put out
when we have clearly been trying to STOP spending unnecessary money.

If they show up on Saturday and the house is a mess, I'm not making
apologies or excuses. I'm just going to say the house is a mess because
the person that is responsible for cleaning it got sick of cleaning messes she did not make.

MomWhen I got home from concessions last night, this is what I found on the end table mentioned above:

Mess that has been sitting on my end table for at least 3 days

Again, none of this is mine. Notice that the yogurt container is gone. Hubby got rid of that, because that was his mess. Is it just me?

31 comments:

I love this! A few years I quit. Refused to do antyhing that wasnt mine. I did my laundry, washed my dishes, cooked only for me. Made my side of the bed, only bought food I would eat. But I didn't say anything. Just sat back and watch the chaos. Good for you for standing up to the bad behaviour!

This is like my house but um...I have 6 kids. Or 7, counting hubby. Or 9 counting step-kids who don't actually live with us. So, I'm thinking of applying for FEMA. I've about given u,too. It's time for a serious ...dun dun dun.... FAMILY MEETING!

This is SO my house! I sent my youngest downstairs and told her to pick up trash. She did. Sent her again to pick up dishes and bring them upstairs to me. She did. Sent her again and told her to get all laundry and put in hamper. She did. Then I told her to clean out from under the couch and put everything where it needed to go. She didn't. And then made excuses about how I told her to just get trash so she didn't get the other stuff. BS!! I left vacuuming the stairs and cleaning the downstairs bathroom to the Hubs this morning before his kiddos are here for the weekend. Hopefully he took care of that!

I am so with you on this! My husband is the culprit in my house. We've been married 29 years and he's 72 years old, and I'm afraid he will never change. I, too, am tired of being expected to pickup after him!

I'm with you on the forgetting thing... but I'm a pit bull when it comes to where food is to be eaten... I don't allow food or drinks to be eaten/drank in any room besides the kitchen/dining room. Again, I'm an obsessive compulsive pit bull... My oldest (gone now) was occasionally guilty of smuggling things into his room, but he dealt with that catastrophe. Doors are there for a reason... Your mess you clean it! :) Hubby on the other hand will leave piles of shit everywhere & this drives me insane. I've come to gathering it all up and putting it on his side of the bed. That usually takes care of that for a few days.... Did I mention "OCD pit bull"? lol

Twitter suggested I might like you. It was right. You have no choice, I know... I liked your e-mail. I'm sorry that the mess was still there... although not entirely surprised. You'd think the allowance might motivate? *sigh!* Keep your head up.

I keep hoping against hope that there'll be a change in my house. I DID tell 13 this morning that I hope she has several children who are just like she is. She's beautiful, amazing, talented and a sloppy mess!!!

Carolyn, I won't be holding my breath anytime soon. Although my hubby has said that, in my absence, he plans on cleaning tonight until he's too exhausted to go on, which gives me a little of inkling that this time it'll be different.

And that unicorns will fly out of the flying pigs' hineys that fly around my house.

My girls get a few warnings to put their things away. Then they get PUT away by me and they are not allowed to have them back until they earn them through chores. Which, is one step nicer than what my Mom did to us - straight to the garbage can! Tracy @ Momaical

I'm like Jenn above... we don't eat outside the kitching/dining area. And no food taken to bedrooms. It's amazing the amount of messes one can avoid by having this rule. I feel for you, though. LOL I can't believe he picked up HIS trash, but left the rest. Really??

I feel your pain Teri! Being a cleaning person - it's amazing what I find under kids' beds....amazing. Like eewwwwwwww. But if people are willing to pay me to wash up and stuff...I'll gladly do it.

My spawn are nasty messy. Second Eldest Female Spawn never picks up her stuff. She thinks she's royalty - just drops crap when she's done with it - wherever she is....aauuggghhhh

Good for you with the letter. I would threaten to publish it on their foreheads if they don't start picking up. Or plant some bugs as a deterrent for not picking up...found a number of those in my cleaning days as well....

Forgetting the coffee mug is funny, but the fact that you did it 3 times is downright hilarious! I bet you were really hitting yourself after the last time!And I LOVE your letter to your family, SO true! If everyone took an extra minute or so to do their bit then the house would be spotless! Good luck with that x

I can tell you this much, it has only happened twice but if lightning strikes again, all bets are off. Three strike rule applies, third time will NOT be a charm and I will break out the old standard coffee maker.

Mine is the single-serving one but I may need to upgrade to the 'idiot-proof' machine soon! :)

Apparently it's not made too much of a difference. Life hasn't changed. I put all of the newspapers that 48 has read in a pile on his chair (I don't read the newspaper) in the hopes that when he went to sit down, he'd see the pile and put it in the bag where we keep the papers for recycling. Nah, he moved them to the end table (where I gathered most of them from!).

So, having not even known about you yet through what I am suspecting with be a highly addictive habit of blog-hopping, I posted a very similar post in my own blog this morning. That line from Sleepless in Seattle "Does he not SEE it?" keeps running through my head. Why is it that nobody has to ever clean up MY mess?

And it turns out I DID go and check out your blog AND commented on it. Which again begs the question "What the hell is wrong with me??" I was reading thinking, wow this does look familiar. The reason being, I had already read AND commented on it.